how to become a pikan

Are you an upperclassman who dreams of even better living arrangements? A freshman who wants to meet more cool people? An exchange student wanting an off-campus living experience? A grad student seeking a neat community? Heard pika was a cool place? Interested in living at pika? Hooray!

Here are the things you should do to see if pika is the right place for you:

  • Come over a couple of times! Meet some of the cool people who live here! Dinner and rush are some of the best times to enjoy some free food, meet us, and learn how pika functions.
  • Come over to our home-made dinner - we cook seven days a week during term, at 6:30 every night. (During the summer dinner is at 7:00, and not every night - call first to ask.)
  • Once a term or so, we have a rush period, where we have all sorts of fun events. From hair dying to juggling, playing with trash compactors to telephone pictionary (if you haven't played, you haven't lived!) there's always something fun going on. (Of course, you're welcome to come meet us any time, not just during rush!) For information on other hopping events, look at our calendar.
  • Get a house tour! Hear some of the crazy stories, and see the unbelievable for yourself (yes, that is a three story firepole!) Ask anyone for a tour. All of us have some great stories to share. (Take a sneak peak at the house on our virtual house tour, too.)
  • (If you're not in the Boston area, email us at pika at mit dot edu and we can arrange a house tour.)
  • Let one of us know that might be interested in living here sometime in the next four years. Even if you're not sure, don't be afraid. Just say it. Hopefully, they'll ask you at the end of your housetour and make it easy for you.
  • Once you've let us know that you're interested, we have a vote; if everything works out, we'll give you a bid. (Yay!) This, first and foremost, means pikans think you are AWESOME!!! This also means that you can move into pika any time in the next four years so long as you are still an MIT student (grad, undergrad, whatever). Or you can just keep hanging out with us - there's no pressure to choose instantly.
  • If you want to move into pika, you first need to pledge. You pledge (if you want! only if you want!!) It's not terribly difficult: say "pledge" in some public place with at least one pikan around.
  • You move in as soon as you like - if there's room in the house, you can move in even in the middle of a term! (Unfortunately, due to MIT regulations freshmen cannot live in the house, but they can still let us know that they will move in next year!)

Your responsibilities as a pikan

Being a member of a coop is incredibly exciting and rewarding, but it does include responsibilites. These include the following:

  • kitchen duty: Every pikan cooks or cleans in a two person team once a week. This is a great way to hone those cooking skills you never quite made the time for. Two pikans are instead our stewards, who buy all the food for the entire house. How often in life will you get to buy $500 worth of groceries once a week?
  • house duty: These can range from making sure hallways are clear, to cleaning bathrooms, to being house manager, in charge of the entire physical house! These can also be very rewarding, and range in the amount of time required.
  • rush: Members are required to attend our sporadically-scheduled rush meetings where we decide about giving out bids. In addition, you should participate in the rush/recruiting process throughout the year. (We also have weekly house meetings, but those are optional.)
  • retreat: These are our two big house meetings for the year, where we work out the more complicated issues, and eat lots of food. One of them is an evening in the fall; the other is a weekend at a beautiful bed and breakfast somewhere in the snow in February.
  • work week / work weekend: these are fantastic! You get a chance to learn some really hands-on skills, while building and bettering. Everything you see in the house, a pikan has helped build/paint/restore/clean. With the possible exception of the brick wall. Work week is a week at the end of August right before classes; work weekend is a Saturday and Sunday in February. (Note: work week is optional for students new to MIT, such as transfer students and first-year grad students - you're probably busy with orientation anyway.)

Any questions? Ask pika-questions!